NIOSH Has Joined Leading Robotics Collaborative — Occupational Health & Safety

NIOSH Has Joined Leading Robotics Collaborative

As a member of ARM, NIOSH will contribute its perspective on issues related to workers’ safety and health and research needs associated with advancing industrial applications.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recently announced it has joined Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing, describing it as the nation’s leading collaborative in robotics and workforce innovation. There are more than 170 member organizations that represent industry, academia, non-profit, and government — names such as Carnegie Mellon, BMW, Lockheed Martin, and Airbus — that are collaborating to revive manufacturing and provide new opportunities for a 21st century workforce “who are prepared to work collaboratively with robotic technologies in a safe environment,” according to the agency’s news release.

NIOSH, through its Center for Occupational Robotics Research, is working across industrial sectors to address the safety of workers who use, wear, or work near robots. The center’s research looks at traditional industrial robots as well as emerging robotic technologies, such as collaborative robots (“cobots”), wearable robotics or powered exoskeletons, remotely controlled or autonomous vehicles and drones, and future robots using advanced artificial intelligence.

As a member of ARM, NIOSH will contribute its perspective on issues related to workers’ safety and health and research needs associated with advancing industrial applications.

Structured as a public-private partnership, ARM accelerates transformative robotic technologies and education to increase U.S. global manufacturing competitiveness. It was founded in January 2017 in Pittsburgh and is partially funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. ARM is part of the Manufacturing USA network.